“Still, the Diamond K brings in quite a bit of revenue.”
“Yeah, that’s true but I don’t know how much longer Dodger will be running the show. The Syndicate will probably take care of him for you.”
Nathan didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
“He’s using. All he does is sit in the back room of that strip club and chew K. How long do you think he can hold onto his position doing that?” He shook his head and fear crept into his eyes. “You want revenge, right? That’s why you’re here, hassling me?”
Nathan nodded and said, “Dodger really screwed up my business with his little stunt so yeah, there’s going to be a little payback for that.” Nathan hunkered down to one knee so he could look Daryl right in the eye. “You’re going to help us out.”
Daryl swallowed hard. “What do I get out of it?”
Nathan paused and raised an eyebrow at Cole, who seemed equally surprised. “You know, of all the things you could have said right then, I didn’t expect that. What do you want?”
“Credits. Enough to get off world and go somewhere else.”
“Well, you’re out of luck because I don’t have any.”
Daryl licked his lips, thinking, and then he got a gleam in his eye. “Dodger’s got plenty.”
Nathan shrugged. “So? They’re probably in a bank account somewhere. I don’t have a hacker with me.”
“There might be another way,” he said, snapping his fingers. “He keeps credits on hand in his safe at the strip club. You could get it there.”
Nathan waved him off. “Look, I’m not interested in breaking into his office but I can certainly make it easier for you to do. What we’re going to do, well, it’s going to make him angry. I imagine he’ll be out of his office and busy. You should be able to get in and do whatever you want. How’s that sound?”
“I don’t know. I’m giving you some good information.”
Cole leaned down close to the side of Daryl’s head, causing him to jerk. “And I’m not beating on you with a pipe wrench. My friends were on that ship you guys crashed. Maybe you should just take the deal Nathan’s offering you.”
Daryl considered it and nodded his head. “All right, I can help you. Can I get off the ground?”
Nathan took a step back and righted the chair lying askew in the dirt. “Sit there, and give me your mobi. I don’t want you calling anyone.”
Daryl sat down and handed over his mobi. “Don’t worry about it. There’s no one left for me to call here.”
“What about your buddy, Turtle?”
“I don’t know,” Daryl said, shaking his head. “If I score enough of Dodger’s credits maybe I’ll get him out of here.”
Nathan sat down on the plastic storage bin and Cole kept circling behind the chair Daryl sat in. “So, tell me everything you know about Dodger, his club and that apartment building where he makes the Diamond K.”
Chapter 21
Nathan sat at the table under the canopy with Tricia and Cole. They had guns spread out across it and Nathan helped as Cole broke each down, cleaned them, reassembled and loaded them. Tricia raised an eyebrow and nodded toward them.
“You sure you’ll need all this? I thought the idea was not to shoot Dodger and his men?”
Nathan shrugged as he fitted together a pistol. “Well, that’s the general idea but you always want to be prepared.”
Cole slid a pistol to her. “You know how to use that?”
Tricia picked it up and pulled the slide to check the chamber. “Yeah, I know how to use it. Do you think I’ll need to?”
“If things go bad, you need to be able to protect yourself,” Nathan said. “It’s just a precaution.”
Tricia picked up the holster for the pistol and slid it in. Then she stood and fitted it into the waistband of her pants, adjusting it until it was comfortable. Nathan’s mobi vibrated and an unfamiliar icon lit up. She pointed to it. “What’s that?”
Nathan checked the device. “It’s a remote control app for the gizmo Duncan and Eldridge installed in the back of the truck and for the thing Richie is hanging on the side of the truck.” He turned to check on the kid’s progress.
The machinist’s mate stood on a ladder securing one end of a large digital display to the outside of the truck on the driver’s side. A ‘bot held up the other end. They had scavenged it from one of the casinos inside the Athena Star. He turned back to her.
“I really wish you would go up to the Corkscrew with Ari and the others. Is there any way I can convince you to do that?”
She shook her head. “No, you’re going to need me to fix you up once you’re done with this stunt.” She smiled and her eyes narrowed. “Besides, I was on the ship when they tried to crash it. I want to see what happens to them.”
Cole smiled. “Can we keep her? You know, if we ever fly again.”
Nathan grunted. “Oh, we’ll fly again. No way do we stay grounded because of some dope dealer at the edge of nowhere.” He picked up another pistol and checked it. “Why do you think Dodger’s left us alone? Shouldn’t he have been out here by now trying to round us up?”
“He got the coolant,” Cole said. “Maybe he’ll leave us alone now. Besides, he may not know where we are. We’ve still got Daryl under wraps. It’s most likely he’s holed up somewhere getting high. He may even be waiting for us to go after him.”
Nathan shook his head. “Or he’s gathering his guys, getting ready to come for us. I don’t see him just letting us leave.”
Cole picked up the upper receiver of a rifle and slipped it into the lower receiver, reassembling the firearm. “If he comes early, we’ll be ready but things will be messier than you want.”
Nathan watched the empty road. According to Eldridge, Dodger had plenty of goons at his fingertips, enough to outnumber Nathan’s group. “There’s not much we can do if they roll up on us.”
“How much more time do you think Duncan needs? It seems like he’s been working on this all day.”
“Well, he said about three hours an hour and a half ago so he should be done anytime.”
Tricia frowned and glanced at the truck. “Doesn’t that mean he still needs at least an hour or so?”
Nathan and Cole both snorted. “He always pads his time in case he’s not as brilliant as he thinks. Come on, let’s go see what’s up.”
They walked over to the truck and Nathan stopped by Richie, inspecting the sign. He nodded approvingly. “You know, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s only got a few hours left until it’s a piece of scrap.”
Richie gave it a pat. “I don’t want you thinking I do sloppy work. Want to give it a try?”
Nathan took out his mobi and called up the app to control the sign. He typed in a message and watched the sign come to life. His message scrolled by in extravagantly bright digital letters, “Good Job, Richie.”
They tested the sign with a few more commands then walked around the back of the truck to where Duncan and Eldridge sat on rolling stools admiring their work. Nathan smiled. “I take it you’re all done?”
The two of them nodded. Duncan said, “Did you get the mobi app to work?”
“I think so.” Nathan tapped the controls. The gizmo in the back of the truck rotated around in a circle. “Seems to be what we expected.”
The two of them picked up their tools and moved to the tailgate. Nathan grabbed the toolboxes as Duncan and Eldridge jumped down.
“Are you really sure about this?” Duncan said.
Nathan put a hand on his shoulder. “They took my ship down and almost killed half the crew. Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Okay then,” Duncan said. “Let me show you how this works.”
— «» —
Morris sat on the steps of the apartment building and smoked a cigarette. No one on Earth smoked anymore but out here in the settlements
you could still get real tobacco. The sun had dipped below the horizon a few minutes ago and the sky was a light shade of purple. The building faced an empty street. They’d chosen this location for production because this area of the city was pretty much abandoned.
He kept the guards out of sight in the lobby. Dodger had wanted them right out on the street where they could be seen because he wanted to intimidate people. Morris had talked him out of that. Why advertise?
He had to do that kind of thing often with Dodger. The guy could be clever but he didn’t understand subtlety. If an operation called for quiet the boss preferred loud and brash. He finished the cig and flicked it out into the street.
The door behind him opened up and his nephew Cheech came out. “Uncle Morris? I’ve got the guys all ready.”
“How many do we have?”
“Six volunteers. If we take all of them that leaves four guys to guard the place while we’re gone. Is that all right?”
Morris sighed. “Not really. Dodger wants this taken care of and I’m not rolling out there unless I’m sure we’ve got enough guys to win. Our contacts back on Earth said these guys can be tough.”
He blew out a deep breath and wondered again why he still worked for Dodger, still took direction from a junkie. Sure, he had done the hard work of getting this operation set up and had been fairly successful but those days appeared long gone. He could think of ten ways to improve the operation and Dodger wouldn’t even understand them. He pulled his mobi from his pocket and dialed Dodger. The boss answered on the third beep.
“It’s Morris. I need some more guys. I want to grab three or four from the club. You okay with that?”
Dodger rambled through an answer and asked Morris a question. “We’re going right now.” He shook his head and ended the call.
“How many did he give you?” Cheech said.
Morris held up two fingers. “We’ll roll by the club and grab them first.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“I know I haven’t been around long but the boss is pretty screwed up, right? I mean it can’t be normal to chew that much product and expect to make good decisions.”
“No, it’s not normal. You think we should do something? Is that what you’re saying?”
Cheech shrugged. “I’m saying that if you wanted to make a move, me and a lot of the other guys would be behind you.”
Morris stood up and eyeballed his nephew. “You guys talking about this behind Dodger’s back?”
Cheech grinned, all white teeth paid for by military benefits. “We sure don’t talk about it in front of him.”
Morris nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful. These guys are all tough when they’re alone but there’s a reason they work for a guy like Dodger. They all want to move up and that doesn’t happen by fragging the boss. I’d be very careful about what I said and who I said it to.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. We’re careful.”
Blowing off his advice, just like that, thinking his uncle too old, too timid to make a move. “Get the guys and the equipment ready. You’re in charge of that. Can you handle it?”
Cheech nodded. “I’ll be ready.”
Morris gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Good. I’ll see you then.”
— «» —
Nathan and Cole loaded their truck with the equipment they needed for the hit on the apartment building.
“What about Daryl?” Cole said.
Eldridge held out his mobi and showed him a video feed of the man tied to a chair in the cargo bay of the Athena Star. “He’s been there all night with a ‘bot and our man Fred watching him.”
“Good. That should keep him from getting into trouble.”
Nathan nudged Eldridge. “What time does your truck go up to the Corkscrew?”
Eldridge and Ari shared a look before he answered. “We’re staying, Nathan. No one is going up to the ship.”
“Well that’s just stupid.”
“The kid’s right,” Duncan said. “We talked about it earlier. The right thing is to stay here and support you in case things go badly.”
Nathan shook his head. “So what’s the plan? You sit here in these tents and hope everything goes all right?”
“It’s my place,” Eldridge said. “I’m not going to be run off. We’ll hole up in the Athena Star if things go bad. If we can help, we will.”
“No offense, but what can you do?”
“We can do what’s necessary. Duncan says your plans never go the way you think they will so our knowledge of the wreck and the geography may come in handy.”
“Duncan talks too much and,” he said, throwing a look at the engineer, “my plans almost always work out.” They all seemed to have their minds made up.
“Okay, I can tell I’m not going to win this fight so go make yourselves safe. Cole, Richie and I roll out in ten minutes.”
He grabbed Duncan by the arm. “This is a bad idea. You know that, right?”
“Go do your thing and stop worrying about us. We’ve got it under control. Consider us Plan B.”
Nathan nodded and they shook hands. “Take care of Tricia.”
He turned to Cole and Richie. Both waited for him at the edge of the canopy.
“You guys ready?”
Cole checked the time on his mobi. “Let’s get it done.”
“Richie, you’re always complaining about getting stuck on the ship and not seeing any action. I imagine this is going to make up for quite a bit of that.”
The machinist had a huge grin on his face. “It’s more fun than learning how to tear motors apart with Duncan, that’s for sure.”
“We’ll see. Are the vehicles charged?”
He nodded. “The car and the truck are all ready to go.”
“All right. You and Cole go first. I’ll follow you.”
“You’re always worried about everyone else,” Cole said to him. “How about you? Sure you want to go through with this? It’s not too late to call Chief Bell and have him and his boys raid the place.”
He shook his head. “Nah, he’ll have a role to play soon enough. Let’s go teach this guy a lesson. Give him a kick in the nuts and stomp on his cash flow.”
Cole smiled and slapped him on the back. “Let’s go do just that.”
Chapter 22
Nathan stopped well short of the building, watching as Richie’s float car took a right and dropped out of view as it went behind a row of warehouses. He powered down the lights and sat on the side of the road, double checking the automated tasks on his mobi while the others got into position.
He had to admit that, despite his earlier bravado to Cole about flying again, this could pretty much be their last hurrah. The damage to the ship looked extensive but until Duncan did a thorough examination he wouldn’t know exactly how bad. There was insurance but there was also a deductible and right now there weren’t enough credits in his account to cover it, even with what they would earn getting Eldridge’s ship back.
His mobi buzzed with a text message from Cole displaying a single thumbs up emoji indicating he was ready.
A large float van pulled away from the alley beside the apartment building and swung in his direction. He leaned down behind the dashboard as it approached and went past. He sat up, checked the side mirror and saw it continue down the street. His mobi buzzed again and this time the message was from Richie. It said, “all set.”
Nathan gripped the wheel and moved the truck down the street without any more hesitation. Whatever happened when they got home, whatever happened with the ship and the business, Dodger wasn’t going to be earning anymore credits from making Diamond K in this building.
Nathan slowed the truck in front of the apartment building and crossed from the right lane to the left, pulling up as close as he could to the en
trance doors to the lobby. No lights shone in the building or the buildings around it. He knew guards patrolled the building, though. Cole had scuffled with one and Daryl had confirmed how many worked inside. His mouth went dry as he imagined them inside now, staring at him, wondering about the truck sitting at the curb. He took a calming breath and slid over to the passenger side of the seat and opened the passenger side door.
He slipped down to the street and hurried across it to the warehouse, keeping the truck body between himself and the lobby. He made a quick right and scrambled for a narrow alley where he ducked behind a dumpster. From this vantage point he could see most of the lobby entrance but no one came out. If they had, Cole would have dissuaded them from his perch on top of the warehouse. Richie sat in the float car behind the apartment building, half a block away from the back entrance, keeping an eye on things.
He took another deep breath, winded from his short jog across the street. His heart beat hard as he pulled out his mobi. He placed a group voice call to Cole and Richie and spoke into the mic.
“Cole, get their attention.”
Gunfire erupted from the roof above him, shattering the silence of the early morning as it echoed up and down the concrete buildings and sidewalks. The second floor windows of the apartment building blew out and sharp fragments rained down onto the sidewalk below. Nathan watched the door for a response.
— «» —
Vincent, one of the four guards left behind by Morris to guard the apartment building, sat with his feet up at a table in the apartment building lobby watching a movie on his mobi. If Morris saw him he would whine about him being lazy. Another guard, Hyde, slept in a chair.
Without warning, gunshots struck the building from the other side of the street and scared him half to death. He jumped up, noticed the truck outside and shouted.
“Hyde! Wake your ass up. Someone is shooting at us!”
More gunshots hit the steps outside. Chunks of concrete bounced off the lobby glass, leaving cracks. Vincent tipped the table over and ducked behind it until the shooting stopped. He heard a sound behind him and turned to see Hyde crawling on the floor and fumbling with his gun.
Bad Rock Beat Down (The Milky Way Repo Series Book 2) Page 24